Free Chocolate? I'm Sold on That!
by Squirrela
Summary: Mr. Willy Wonka perfects, and discovers the flaw in, Wonkavision.


Credit where credit is due... While some of the ideas which lead to this one-shot have been at the back of my mind for a while, it was only reading mattTheWriter072's recent one-shot, "When Chocolate Meets the Airwaves" that allowed me to pull those notions together into a coherent story. The guiding thought? What would happen if Mr. Willy Wonka did manage to give chocolate away via television adverts? If people knew they could get free chocolate whenever an advert aired, would they even bother to purchase it? Why pay for what you can get for free? It was that thought which lead to this tale taking shape. Thanks are also due for his (and everyone else's) thoughtful comments, reminding me that things work better when I keep him in character. I guess I was thinking that Wonkavision was the delivery system, but Wonka would think about it that way to himself, even if the General Public would call it some variation of Television Chocolate! Thanks for the reminder. Hopefully this is less jarring now.

I'm also due thanks to a friend... I quickly pulled the bones of the story together, and as she was interested, I sent the un-proof-read results to her, before heading off to deal with some other tasks requiring my attention. While I was busy, she sorted out a lot of the formatting, rewording, and grammar checks for me. I gave her a bare bones story idea, she sent back a fully fledged, publishable, piece of writing.

Given this tale is being published in my name, I took what I was given, and added a few ideas that the rewritten work inspired — meaning that any errors will be down to my mistakes.

Other credits required: The wording of the advert is quoted from the book. The characters we recognise, naturally, do not belong to me. As always, if you recognise it from elsewhere, the chances are, it isn't mine.

* * *

Free Chocolate? I'm Sold On That!

Mr. Willy Wonka was thrilled. He had done it at last! Wonkavision was ready to go! In mere minutes, the first chocolate bars would be being distributed to every television screen in the country. Willy rubbed his hands together, gazing at his own, dust covered television screen. This was a perfect idea. Perfecting the delivery had taken months of work. Tonight was the night, and at the height of prime-time! This would do wonders for his production ratings! Now it was time to sit back, and watch the results.

* * *

It had taken a few weeks for the idea to really hit off with the public. The first Charlie Bucket heard of it was at school, which was understandable. Charlie's family only rarely had the TV on, as they simply couldn't afford to pay for the electricity it took to run it. Keith Slammer had been the one to broadcast the news; with the inevitable help of Mr. Turkentine. Keith had been caught slipping something into his mouth.

'And what have you got there, Thief?'

Keith looked up, to find the acerbic teacher was stood right in front of him, leaning over the desk. From there had flowed a discussion the likes of which Charlie had never heard before. Wonka was giving away free candy over the television? That shocker had done it! Mr Turkentine had cancelled class, and everyone had rushed home to see if they could catch one of the amazing adverts. Wonka chocolate for free? No one wanted to miss out on that!

So it was, that on a hot sunny day, nearing the end of summer term, Keith was sat in front of the TV, watching for a glimpse of the advert he had come to love. Ah! There it was!

'Maw! The advert is coming on! Get the kids in front of the TV, and make sure they all grab one of those bars!'

It was like this every time. The Slammer family had a stockpile of thirty bars by now, and in addition, they ate some chocolate harvested this way each day. Soon they would have enough to give each kid coming to the next birthday party some chocolate, and all without spending a penny! 'Wonka's a fool!' the family chortled to each other, smirking nastily as they unwrapped the bars. 'No one will buy from him ever again. Why bother, if you can get it for free?'

Keith turned his attention to the screen, and, when the moment came, fished out yet another chocolate bar.

* * *

A few miles away, in another part of town, a very different boy was sitting with his family, avidly watching _his_ television screen. Ever since Keith had thrown out the hint in class, he had been wild to see if it was really true. Then the invitation came: 'Eat Wonka's chocolates! They're the best in the world! If you don't believe us, try one for yourself— Now!' There was a moments silence, while the family sat gazing at the chocolate bar, suspended in the middle of the screen, slowly revolving in front of their eyes. Then the voice continued, 'How? Just reach into the screen, grab the bar, and pull it out!'

Charlie glanced at his family. Could he really do this? His mother and four grandparents were nodding encouragingly at him.

'Go on, Charlie!'

Hesitantly, Charlie put up his hand, gaping in amazement as his hand went through the screen, and he was able to pull out a big bar of chocolate. Charlie held the bar out in front of himself, gazing at it in wonder and disbelief. How on earth could such riches be delivered by television? Mr. Willy Wonka must be a most marvelous man indeed!

Glancing up, still caught up in his astonishment at the experience, Charlie's gaze passed over the faces of his excited family. Recalled to business by the many grins, Charlie glanced at the bar again, before immediately opening the wrapper to expose the chocolate. Looking at the size of the bar, and realising that there were six of them to share it amongst, he broke it in half, and began to share the first half out amongst his family members. There was enough chocolate for everyone to have a strip of four squares — and have the same again left over!

'We didn't pay anything for this, so we should all enjoy it!'

As he dished out the chocolate treat, Charlie received many nods and smiles. The remaining half-bar was wrapped up in the foil again, and carefully put aside for another day.

What Charlie never discovered, was that his grandparents were far more devious than he would ever have given them credit for. The following morning, when they had the house to themselves, they held a discussion. The result of this discussion was a pact. They would make sure that they got a bar of chocolate from the screen every day! Ever since that discussion, they had been gorging themselves on the delicious sweetness while Charlie was at school. Grandpa Joe was the worst, he loved Wonka's chocolate so. But not more than Charlie! It mattered no longer that the family so rarely could afford to purchase Wonka bars: Wonka was giving the bars away for free, and he was doing so several times a day!

The grandparents biggest secret was the discovery that one television could deliver several bars of chocolate at once. They had found this out the very morning they made their agreement, when both George and Joe had been determined to be the one to remove the chocolate from the screen. Both men had put their hand into the screen — and both had pulled out a big bar of chocolate! They had stared at the doubled bounty in astonishment, before breaking into cackles. Each of the grandparents had thoroughly enjoyed a quarter of the first bar, the one pulled out by George, and they grudgingly kept the second bar to surprise Charlie with, when he got home from school. The TV was turned off, and they shared a smile amongst themselves. This would be their little secret.

The following morning, all of the grandparents clustered round the TV screen, and when the advert came on, all four of them put their hands into the screen. Grandpa Joe put two hands in! When they removed their hands again, they discovered that each hand did indeed hold a big bar of the delicious, creamy chocolate. They were overjoyed.

Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina soon discovered that they could only stomach half a bar each — their remaining chocolate was put aside for the following day. Grandma Josephine wasn't overly fond of chocolate. She ate three lines of the bar she pulled out, and then gave the rest to Joe. Joe happily gorged himself on the remaining nine lines of her bar, before completely devouring the bar he had pulled out for himself, as well.

Joe had resolved that the extra bar he had collected should be given to Charlie. That was his reason for taking two bars. The joy Charlie had shown at the apparent generosity of his grandfather the previous day had made the decision for Joe. It was so easy to do, and brought such wonderful results with it. Soon, Charlie would do anything for his Grandpa Joe! As if that wasn't benefit enough, Charlie had no idea that his grandparents were gorging themselves on chocolate, while Charlie was out at school. It was funny, really: keen to be fair, Charlie continued to share every bar he was given with his entire family. For Joe it was win/win!

* * *

Arriving home that evening, Charlie was surprised to be met by a grinning Grandpa Joe, holding yet another big bar of chocolate. Although the happiness in his grandfathers eyes pleased Charlie, he felt dubious, and paused, eyeing his grandfather.

"Are you sure this is fair Grandpa Joe?" he asked. "It's just, last night we already had half a bar left over from the first night. Yesterday we finished the first bar, but had enough left, with the second bar, to last us until tomorrow. Now we have enough chocolate to last until the weekend. Do we really need more chocolate now? Is it not being greedy? I'd have thought it would be better to only take more when we run out of what we already have."

Joe considered him with a frown.

"You see Charlie, Chocolate lasts a very long time. Free chocolate, however, could finish at any point. Mr. Wonka won't begrudge us taking enough for us to have a little left over for enjoying once the free chocolate is finished. It's good to save something for a rainy day."

Charlie considered this point of view for a while. He didn't want to disapprove of Grandpa Joe. The older man had always been so kind to him. Surely his grandfather had to be right: there couldn't be any harm in keeping some aside for when things changed. His face overcast with concern, Charlie continued to think about the situation. He couldn't feel it was quite right, but having no way to refute his grandfather's words, he resolved to accept that he must be wrong. Despite this, his sense of disquiet remained, and heightened, with every bar Grandpa Joe added to the steadily growing pile.

* * *

Three weeks had passed, since Charlie and family found out about the free chocolate give-away. Charlie's grandparents were clustered around the television once again, eagerly awaiting the amazing advert, and the bounty it brought to their greedy hands, on a daily basis. This time, it brought so-called exciting news from Wonka's. As far as the watchers in the small shack just beyond the factory walls were concerned, the exciting news was bad; very bad. Horrible! The new, windfall adverts were to be suspended indefinitely. Wonka was going to start giving away Golden Tickets instead. Five tickets would be randomly placed in Wonka chocolate bars, and sent wherever Wonka products were sold, all over the world. The lucky children who found the tickets would be granted a visit to the factory, something no one else had ever experienced, and no one else ever would again.

Grandpa Joe was gutted. How, now, was he going to find two large bars of Wonka's delicious chocolate to eat every day? They certainly couldn't buy any! His bad mood infected the rest of Charlie's grandparents, and they spent the rest of the day snapping at each other.

* * *

The news spread like wildfire. In class with Mr Turkentine a few days later, Charlie had a sense of deja vu. Mr. Turkentine suspended class to stop a noisy pupil running past the classroom door. This time, it was the news of the bars containing the chance to buy entry into the factory being on the shelves of stores that caught everyone's attention. The students deserted the classroom like rats abandoning ship.

Charlie followed along, knowing he couldn't follow far, as he had his new paper round to do. The extra energy he had, due to being able to have some chocolate every day, meant he had enough energy to have an after school job. Charlie wanted to thank Mr. Wonka so much for his extreme generosity. The man would never know the difference this one act of kindness had made to one poor family.

When Charlie got home, thrilled with the loaf of bread he had been able to purchase from his first wages, his family confirmed the bad news for him. The candy adverts were indeed at an end, because the Golden Ticket contest had started. Charlie sighed. It was too much to hope that he might find a Golden Ticket. Then he sat up straight. Yes, he was disappointed; yes, he would miss the chocolate even more now, but Mr Wonka had enabled him to bring a little more money into the house. Maybe, with his paper round, Charlie would be able to earn enough to purchase the odd bar for himself. And there was always the odd change he sometimes found in the street. Maybe, if he were careful to pick up every penny the other kids so carelessly dropped at school, he would be able to afford more chocolate: chocolate for everyone, and not just for sharing: a bar for all. Maybe, Charlie didn't dare hope, he would buy a bar with a Golden Ticket in it.

The paper round would be difficult to do without the extra chocolate every day, but Charlie would find a way. Meanwhile, he took comfort in the knowledge his family had saved enough of the chocolate they had pulled from the screen to last a few more weeks.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a room not all that far away, an eccentric gentleman stood rubbing his hands together, for not the first time. This latest idea was fantastic! So much better than Wonkavision! And it was so exactly what he was needing!

Wonkavision had been a slight miscalculation, Willy admitted to himself. Sales had plummeted. No one wanted to buy something they could get for free. He sighed, thinking more about human nature: the human nature he'd forgotten about in the thrill of his chocolate-teleporting accomplishment. Those people! They'd better not stockpile the chocolate for too long, he thought. Because for sure, that's what they were doing. Wonkavision was never meant for stockpiling. No, no, no. Deary, dear, no! That wasn't what it was meant for at all! That was an abuse of the system! Wonkavision was meant to be a taste, to allow you to experience the amazing burst of flavour he injected into his confections!

But that wasn't all. Tests were showing that being sent by television degraded the sugar, and after a month the chocolate deteriorated. After two months it began to taste rancid. Willy shook his head, wondering when the first Golden Ticket would be found. That would take his mind off this. Grabbing handfuls of bars of chocolate, and keeping them for months, was greedy. He gave a gentle snort through his nose. In some ways, discovering the chocolate had gone rancid would be a fantastic lesson for anyone who experienced it. It was likely there were many who could do with a lesson about the iniquities of greed. The corners of his mouth lifting at the thought, Willy soon frowned. The flip side was that Wonka's could get a reputation for delivering rancid chocolate, and Willy wanted no part of that. Wonkavision had been a great idea, but in practice, it was impractical. There may be plenty of money to spare, but there was none to waste, and this was wasteful.

Instinctively, Willy turned to happier thoughts. His frown turned into a smile. The Golden Tickets had potential. They should completely reverse the plummeting sales, and could well help with another problem he had, as well. Yes, Golden Tickets should usher in a whole new season of delicious Wonka confections for all.


End file.
